Sunday, June 28, 2009

Somewhat of an old argument for and against armed defense was brought up last night between myself and a good friend of mine that helped jump start my recent interest into firearms of last year. We were talking about carrying our CCW pieces and when we do and do not. He remarked that he has carried into restaurants that have a "Class D" license here in Ohio (they serve open containers and well drinks) which we are prohibited from carrying in. His logic is that he will not consume alcohol at all while carrying (a very good thing IMHO) and he would rather keep the option to defend himself if needed. I agree that the law is silly in this aspect here in Ohio (how many times have you gone into an Olive Garden, TGI Fridays or Ruby Tuesdays without even looking at the drink menu), but the law is the law. I will not violate it as to me the cost/benefit ratio is not high enough in the area locations that I frequent to warrant the risk. This brought to mind a post I made back in April entitled "Suzanna Hupp Lays It Down". In it former Texas lawmaker Suzanna Gratia Hupp testified before congress about her own experience NOT carrying in a restaurant due to legalities that MAY have directly led to the deaths of several persons, including her own parents, when a deranged gunman drove into the restaurant and opened fire. Watch it if you have not done so already, pretty convincing argument made by her. I personally will try and persuade my legislature here in Ohio to clarify this part of the law to remove this logical oversight.

Just to be clear, I have no problem not being able to carry into courthouses and other government buildings that provide their own armed security forces whether they be county sheriff's, state patrol officers or private security personnel. Also any establishment whose primary purpose is the dispensing and consumption of alcoholic beverages I also don't have an issue with a no carry provision. They should however extend the allowance of CCW permits among the staffs of these businesses to extend beyond just the business owner (remember the murder of 4 persons - including Pantera/Damage Plan guitarist "Dimebag" Darrel Abbott - at the Alrosa Villa bar here in Columbus a few years ago). No sorry, just because your local pub serves hot pretzel bites and potato skins from its kitchen doesn't cut it in my book.

So what do you think? Is it worth the legal ramification if caught to carry in places that are off limits in your own situation to ensure that you are armed at all times? I am starting a new poll on the blog and also feel free to leave a comment or two.

Just a note, on the advice of another friend, I initiated comment moderation on this blog so your comments may take a bit to see as I now read and review each before it goes on the page.

Great response to this one with over 700 responses! Thanks for the input!

The results as of 9:12 pm, June 28, 2009 to the question "Do you think President Obama will be able to enact a new "assault weapons ban?"

Yes: 45% (317 votes)No: 41% (289 votes)Unsure: 14% (100 votes)

Its been too long since stats in college to tell you much about the numbers other than the above. I personally feel that the results from this little unofficial and un-scientific study are too close to call. It seems the longer the poll was up (I put it up sometime early this spring) the more people were voting "No". I caution those of you out there who voted "No" not to be lulled into a sense of safety due the relative inattention gun control has gotten from the White House. Take a look at our President's voting record in Illinois on the subject and the state of affairs in Chicago and ask yourself the same question again. He has another 3 1/2 years to do what he wants.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Had to take the other day off of work to stay home for roofers to replace my roof, or so saith the spouse, aka Household 6. After watching them for about and hour I realized "wow, this is a monumental waste of time". I gave the crew leader my cell number in case anything happened and went and got my oil changed. On the way back I stopped by this little gun shop up the road from me a bit that I don't normally go to . Ended up buying some .357 ammo from him and shooting the bull with him for a bit. He is a former marine and retired police officer from "Over-The-Reine, Ohio (a suburb of Cincinnati) and the subject came up of backup guns. His was a S&W Chief's special for many a year with a bobbed hammer. I mentioned that I had thought of it but was hesitant. After seeing his I told him that I was convinced. He had a gunsmith bench and tools there so for $20 I got my hammer bobbed on my 637. He said there was no need to go inside and grind off the notch for single action shooting since there was no hammer to grasp onto anymore. I agreed. I will need to take it back for the final grind and polish as he was out of jeweler's rouge, but it looks good and my fears of snagging the hammer on drawing are pretty much gone now.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

I was talking to a friend at work about my new purchase of the Ruger Security Six and he jokingly asked me "what are you trying to do, start your own small arsenal?", to which I naturally responded "whaddaya mean small?". Then it got me thinking I haven't posted a pic of my collection in recent memory so here you go world...my firearms.

Long Arms (top to bottom):

Mosin-Nagant 91/30 7.62x54R

Mosin-Nagant M44 7.62x54R

Mauser Karibiner k98 8mm

Romanian WASR-10 GP AK 7.62x39

Mossberg Maverick 88 12ga Shotgun

Ruger 10/22 .22lr

Hi_Point 4095 Carbine .40 S&W

Pistols (top to bottom and left to right)

Ruger Security Six .357 Magnum

Bersa Thunder .380 ACP

Taurus PT845 .45 ACP

Smith & Wesson M&P 40c .40 S&W

Smith & Wesson 637 .38 Spl +P

Smith & Wesson 22A .22lr

Glock 22 .40 S&W

Now some have been somewhat modified from their original form or configuration. Is this in excess? I don't think so given the current state of things, but feel free to let me know if I appear to be an over the top gun nut or whatever. Compared to the collection Charleton Heston left behind, I am strictly an amateur.

Dammit! I just got done explaining how I kept my 22A a couple of days ago in favor of getting my sweet, sweet Ruger Security Six. Now I come to find out that there was a recall on this pistol on 5/29! I even shot mine this past weekend. Honestly, accuracy was above average and I may just look harder for a sighting solution. Either way, I need to check mine when I get home and see if it is in the range of serial numbers recalled.

Thanks to The Firearm Blog for pointing this out. I always stop by there each day.

Had a pretty good time again, a lot more people than last time and much more crowded. Hot too and I didn't bring enough water. After being in Kuwait for a year you'd think I would know better. Eric and I try and get there early to help set up. Other people show up 5 minutes before the competition and then leave right after they're done. I think we are going to be like those people next time.

Anyway, not as sparkling a performance this time, went through more ammo too. Oh well, it was still fun and there's always next time.

First vid, pretty good (IMHO) of shooting open sights at 5 targets

This time around, not so good, have trouble defeating the retention safety on my holster on the first run but then shoot fairly well, 2nd run I present well on the draw but then go on to have a bunch of misses. I am still (and always) learning.

Friday, June 19, 2009

I got a message on Facebook earlier this week from my friend Eric with whom I went plate shooting last month that this coming weekend was the next match. After paying for the centerfire division you can fire the course in the .22 division for free. Now, last time I had a barrel of fun so I was sure not to miss out on the entire experience this time. Trouble is the .22 pistol I own is a S&W 22A semi-auto which I have found to be, while accurate, lacking in decent sights. I have cast an eye from time to time at the Sig Sauer Mosquito .22 and they were on sale at the local volume sales dealer I shop at here in town (yes the one I complained about in an earlier post, I went back - hey I do the same thing with Wally World). Brought my 22A in for trade but they would only give me less than half what I paid for it in trade so I bought the Mosquito on sale for $299 anyway and kept the S&W. After I got home I realized what a waste this was. I already had a .22 pistol (gentlemen - pay attention here, this type of faulty logic often gets us in trouble with the wives) and don't use it as much as I thought I would. I just spent another $300 on a pistol with the same function because it looks "cooler" - and trust me the Mosquito does, like a somewhat small P226.

The Sig Saure Mosquito

I have always tried to buy weapons that I saw that fit a particular niche in my "arsenal" or for a particular collection purpose by either type or interest. Right now realistically (ignoring some pieces that I would like to get but are waaaay over my head in the price range) I had a "triad" of weapons that I wanted to get in the near future. A decent bolt-action hunting/sport rifle, an AR variety EBR (Evil Black Rifle) and a medium frame .357magnum for field and target use. This additional .22 did not fit any of these roles, nor could I see it significantly improving upon the role for which pistol I had bought it to replace.

So I took the Mosquito back intending to wait a while longer. Unfortunately I found out that all they would do is issue a store credit so I either kept the pistol I didn't want or find something else. And then I saw her.......

She was beautiful..

She was powerful...

She was almost perfect...

And she was priced right.....

love at first sight!!!!

"She" was a used Ruger Security Six .357 Magnum six shot medium frame revolver. I found her tucked away under the newer pistol for display in the Ruger case, I was looking for a GP-100 but then found this classic. The Security Six was Rugers foray into the law enforcement and security market back before the onset of the semi-auto fever that took wheelguns off the hips of our police officers and replaced them with 15 shot steel and plastic wunderguns. Ruger specifically designed these particular pistols for durability and purposely over-engineered the frame and parts to withstand thousands and thousands of rounds. Upon examining mine I found a little holster wear and some mild usage marks on the weapon, but it appeared to be a pistol that was shot occasionally and taken care of pretty damn well. I ran the serial number, 159-XXXXX, and found that it was produced somewhere around 1983. Over 25 years ago and it still looked like a newer pistol. It is solid, it feels commensurate with the power of the round it fires. The .357 Magnum is the real deal. Its rounds power out of the 4" barrel at 1200 up to 1600 feet a second creating massive power dumps on its target up to and exceeding 700 foot pounds, depending on the load. It has been a trusted round since its adoption in the 1930's. More than just a lengthened .38 special cartridge, the .357 Magnum introduced a whole new meaning to the words "hand cannon". You now had a cartridge which excelled at almost any task at hand, personal defense, defeating automobile engine blocks (of its day) and also could be used to take medium sized game. You name it and the .357 has done it. Also, being base on a .38 special, it would still accept and fire those rounds for training or less strenuous duties if needed.

Now THIS is a beautiful pistol! Even is slightly worn!

There is some minor holster wear but overall this pistol is in over 85% new conditon, not bad for a pistol made when I was 15!

The grips are plastic and not the original wood that would of been on it, but they look nice and seem to work fine in my hands.

Again some wear on the sights, but they are adjustable and seem to be in really good shape and just need a bit of darkening on the corners and edges.

Six rounds of .357 magnum goodness awaits!

The pistol is a stainless steel model with a 4" barrel, plastic grips and adjustable sights. Like I said, other than the serial number and some wear marks, you would not think that this pistol was over 25 years old. I can't overstate how much I love looking at and holding this piece. I only paid $350 for it so with the trade it I only got zapped for an additional $50 and got a much more powerful piece for the collection, and one for which I had a "need".

I am going to take it with me to the steel plate match tomorrow and shoot it a bit afterwards if I can and will post my experience with it in a few days.

Video of the Ruger Security Six from Youtube (gotta love that YouTube)

Some say they wanna take my guns awayThey will find to rue that day... yes they will

Blame it on the villain in the streetTruth is they wanna heard us like sheep

Come on, bring it onJust getting started, I ain't doneCome on, bring it onStep right up and get yourself someCome on, bring it onSeen you before, ain't gonna runCome on, bring it onStandin' right here, come get you some

Come on, bring it onJust getting started, I ain't doneCome on, bring it onStep right up and get yourself someCome on, bring it onSeen you before, ain't gonna runCome on, bring it onStandin' right here, come get you some

I remember real clear, years ago in the swamps of South GeorgiaCane pole and Crossman in my hands was all I need to be growed upHome made ice cream and BBQ and the family on Friday nightsTen lane ramp on Saturday right before the morning light

There came a time I's old enough and learned about the gunAnd every night at suppertime I'd answer to what I'd doneFolks today plum forgot about the way it used to beGot no respect and no cold steel, just games on TV

And I'll burn in hell before I sell my rights away from meIt's high time we embrace the tool that keeps all men free

Come on and get you someCome onCome on and get you someCome onCome on and get you some today

Come on and get you someCome onCome on and get you someCome onCome on and get you some tonight

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Cleveland constantly disappoints me. Whether it being the Browns or Indians letting me down year after year, the constant drain the politicians in Cleveland make on our state budget trying to jump start that dying "mistake on the lake" that put all of its eggs in the automotive and steel industry or my ex living there. There is always something depressing about that place. I don't have any allegiance to Cleveland other than some friends that like their teams or are from the area. Now this comes along courtesy of the Buckeye Firearms Association. As soon as I get back home from vacation I am going to stop putting off joining these guys and....FU Cleveland! .....send my money in ASAP!

Seriously, Bengals and Reds, give me a reason to switch.

Cleveland refuses to obey state law ... refuses to obey the courts ... and spits on the Constitution. And we're fighting back!

Not long ago, Buckeye Firearms Foundation filed a lawsuit to stop the City of Cleveland from prosecuting law-abiding gun owners under local ordinances that restrict gun ownership and concealed carry.

The lawsuit also asked the Court to declare 20 local ordinances unconstitutional on the grounds that they conflict with state preemption of firearm laws.

So what is Cleveland's response? They shrug and say they think state preemption itself is unconstitutional even though every court that has looked at it has found preemption a valid state law. In other words, Cleveland doesn't care what the law says. They don't care what the courts say. They just want to go on enforcing their illegal ordinances as long as humanly possible.

Cleveland's plan is to stall. They want to delay the case against them for years while continuing to illegally infringe the rights of gun owners.

But we're fighting back. Buckeye Firearms Foundation has filed a motion in opposition to the city's request for a stay because Ohio's gun owners cannot afford another three, four, or five years of Cleveland's rogue behavior.

Please understand. This isn't just a disagreement about the law. This is an all-out battle between individual gun owners and a big city government run amok. And Cleveland is not alone. Many other cities in Ohio are ignoring state law and enforcing illegal and unconstitutional ordinances.

The situation is unacceptable. We cannot allow cities to create conflicting laws to infringe your rights. You don't even have to be arrested to be affected. Many people are unable to buy standard capacity magazines or other perfectly legal parts because manufacturers won't ship to hostile cities.

We will not be bullied. But we are in a fight against the full resources of one of America's largest cities. We must win. Cities around Ohio are watching to see the outcome. If we don't win, those cities will be emboldened to continue infringing your rights and encouraged to make up any laws they choose on a whim.

Worse, if President Obama or U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder decide to make their move against gun owners, cities around Ohio will take the cue to drop the hammer on gun owners ... not because it will accomplish anything, but just because they can.

WE NEED YOUR HELP IMMEDIATELY. Buckeye Firearms Foundation has very limited resources and no big corporate donors. We need funding now to wage this battle and win. The future of gun rights in Ohio may depend on the outcome.

I know we ask a lot of you. I know the economy is bad. We're David and they're Goliath. But we CAN win with your help. Will you continue to stand by us? After all the progress we've made, please don't let us slip backward because of one city that has gone power mad.

Can you donate $100 or $75 or even $50? Give as generously as you are able. Any amount will help. Your donation to the Foundation is tax-deductible.

**************************Bonus Cleveland Video!The guys that did this are from Last Call Cleveland, a bunch of liberal douches but they make some funny stuff, especially their Man In The Box web series.

Friday, June 5, 2009

I have the word "gift" hidden in one of my posts from the past year. If may be all lower case, all caps or just have the first letter capitalized. Regardless of how it is spelt, it will not in a place within a posting that it makes sense. It could be in actual text or a picture caption. It won't be on any of the static page items on the left or down at the bottom, just the posts themselves. The first person to comment on this post with the correct information to include the name of the post, date posted and where it is located will win a "major award". No its not a fishnet clad leg lamp. It is something that will be worth more than $20 and depending on your location may vary. But there will be a prize. Seeing how I only have one follower (other than myself) and only one other person that I know reads this even on a somewhat regular basis, this should not be a big deal. Just find the word and comment, its that easy.

Wow, I have been fairly fortunate as of late when it comes to actually finding some ammo. Today I actually scored twice. Once at a big box retailer with a blue sign headquartered in a Southern state and yet later at another big box retailer with a red sign that hails from "that state up North" as we like to say in Ohio. In both locations I found a limited number of boxes of Winchester white box 180gr. FMJ .40 S&W, 5 at the blue store and 10 at the red store. The blue store would only sell my 6 boxes at a time so I cleaned him out. The red store would only sell me 5 of the 1o so some other lucky guy or gal is going to find them later I am sure. The red store had all 10 boxes shoved in the back of the lowest shelf so most people looking would never of seen them. I just happened to squat down to try and find the price of another round that they had on the shelf and noticed them. The blue store was selling each box for $16.97 while the red store had theirs for $19.99. When I asked a manager if they would match prices since I still had my receipt from blue store in my pocket they said that they would only match advertised sale prices and also would not allow me to buy all of their stock as they would then have to reorder.

Can you tell the difference between these 2 boxes? I can, the one on the left is from a big box retailer with a blue sign for $16.97, the one on the right is from one of its competitors with a red sign for $19.99. I don't know, maybe the one on the right is magic or something...

So I stated back to him what he told me that they would not match there key competitor's price and they would rather not sell me their last 5 boxes of ammo from their already cleaned out shelves. He nodded North and South back at me. OK. I guess we are worse off economically than I thought. Maybe the red sign store is hoping for yet another government bail out of retail giants and don't think they need to be competitive with the biggest gorilla in the game. Oh well, I bought the 5 boxes that I could since I didn't want to miss out on an opportunity to stockpile some .40 cal target rounds. Maybe I'll go back and get the other 5 boxes, but probably not.

Anyway, made some mad purchases yesterday and grew my ammo stores of .40 by 500 rounds and also picked up another brick of .22lr for the hell of it. My contributions to stimulating the economy.

My happy little pile of ammo from yesterday, ready to go into the ammo can behind it.

What the hell is that! A Mosin Pistol based on a 91/30 - cool! its called the Obrez and apparently was used in limited use in the Russian Civil War. Read more about it here. Thanks to The Firearm Blog for digging this one up!

Thursday, June 4, 2009

No, I'm not commenting on the proposed Blair Holt Bill (HR 45 in Congress) that would require the registering of all purchased firearms both at the initial time of sale and any subsequent transfer of ownership of said firearms. That is a whole different ball of wax for another time.

What I am talking about here is creating your own records of what you have in case your guns are lost, stolen or lost in a fire or other disaster. James over at Hell In A Handbasket has done a good post entitled Lock Them Up! Write It Down! He does one of the blogs that I read daily as he is not only another Columbus gun blogger, but also has some good info on there. In this article he points out some important reasons to document your weapons. One thing I don't think he touched on is the importance of documenting your weapons in the case of a fire or other disaster where they are lost or destroyed. I have quite a little investment in mine and would hate to have to rebuild my collection at today's prices. While I am on the subject, make sure that firearms and related items are covered under your policy, you may have to buy a rider for them. I don't personally own a fire safe for mine (yet), I do have a fireproof box for my reloading powder, primers and as much ammo as I can fit in there at a time.

The entrance to the late Charleton Heston's gun vault...wow!

Also take note of some of the comments readers have posted. I have done a couple of different methods but I have settled on a couple of pictures of my firearms (as if I don't have enough already) along with a scanned copy of the purchase receipt and description all collected electronically and kept on a secured flash drive and also as an encrypted file in an online storage medium.

Here is an example I found online of someone who is using a database called My Gun Collection ($14.99, shareware) to store their firearm info, a bit much for many folks but I like it!I plan on downloading this program and some others, comparing them and reporting on it in the future.

I am posting a bit more for the next day or so as I want to push some stuff out that I have been working on before I go on vacation. Hope anyone who stumbles upon this site enjoys!

Seriously though, anybody looked at stock prices for Smith & Wesson or Ruger lately? I normally don't agree with much on the Daily Show, but I do like Jon Stewart, he's a funny guy, just not politically in step with me.

Pay particular note to the idiot from the Brady Campaign and his remarks. Get in gear and contact your legislative representative and join the NRA if you haven't yet. These types are not going to go away, especially during the reign of the "Obamanation"

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Went shooting today up in Delaware with a friend from work, Chris. The good news was that we had the range all to ourselves. The bad news was that we had it to ourselves because it was raining. It wasn't raining hard but it was raining constantly the 2 hours or so we were out on the range. To make it even more challenging the temperature was down around 50 degrees or so. It was more like early October than early June in Ohio. We put some rounds down range from my AK, Mosin, Hi-Pont Carbine and both of our .22's - his Savage and my Ruger 10/22. Then we shot his Hi-Point 9mm (its actually my old one that I have reviewed previously that I sold to him) and My Taurus PT845 and some rounds from my Bersa Thunder .380.

Chris wearing a full length body condom to stay dry

With the rifles everything went off without a hitch other than our targets getting wet and curling up on the stands. Both of us had pistol issues. His Hi-Point had some stove pipe issues and my Bersa had multiple, and I mean MULTIPLE, FTF issues. It got so bad that I stopped doing the tap-rack-bang drill and started to clear each one individually and reload as it was happening on every round for a bit. I was using the FiocchiFMJ stuff I just bought. I guess the pistol doesn't like it since it has eaten everything else up to this point like a pig at the trough. The PT845 performed flawlessly, as I have become accustomed to expect. It is interesting to note that the perceived recoil of its .45 ACP round was noticeably less than the recoil of the Hi-Points 9mm round.

For anyone not familiar with the tap-rack-bang drill, here is a link to an excellent training video for it (embedding disable by request on Youtube)

By the time we were done I was sweating under my former Army rain jacket, wet in the seat of my pants and other places and my hands were cold and somewhat numb. And then it struck me, this was great training. Life is not fair, it likes to throw some curve balls and spit balls at you. A lot of people like to get their CCW and then shoot exclusively at an air conditioned indoor range with a lounge and cafe latte machines nearby. Most of the time that you would actually use your weapon to defend yourself you would be in an environment far from this one. You would probably be outside, possibly in the dark and at the mercy of the elements. At the least you would be at home in the dark. How do you train for this environment? You draw your weapon and suddenly notice that the grip you have become familiar with is strange to you with your hands gripping a cold weapon. The nice white dots you have become accustomed to acquiring in your sight picture are now dim specs in the dark and you no longer have a lighted range to illuminate your target. What do you do? You train beforehand! Get out in those less desirable times of the year and fire a bit, don't be afraid to get wet (though if there had been any thunder of lightening we would have gotten off the range fast!) or a little cold. Don't be afraid to get uncomfortable a bit, it won't kill you. As for training in darkness, not many ranges will allow you to fire in darkness (unless it is part of a defensive shooting course they conduct) so you may have to improvise. Use a dark pair of sunglasses over or under you protective eye wear to simulate reduced lighting conditions. Have a partner on hand to observe you and make sure that you are handling the weapon safely. Also shoot at human style silhouettes if you don't already to train your mind to pull the trigger at human target. Also you may want to try either steel plate shooting or IDPA or other competitive shooting events to get off of the square range for a bit and condition you to always scan your area for threats, and not just your 12 o'clock.

Here I am wet, sweating, water on my glasses with cold hands. Good times!! Don't infer anything from the sign, these were old tax bond signs someone donated to the range for general use - but yeah, good homes generally do make for safe kids, if you have some in your home and also have firearms, teach them well and keep the arms safely stored when not in use).

Training in uncomfortable environments conditions you mentally to ignore them in future encounters with them, or at least to allow you to work within the scope of their limitations. In the Army there was a saying that "if it ain't raining, we ain't trainin'". I always hated that saying, but it does have some truth. The enemy doesn't always choose sunny, pleasant days to show up on. Make sure you are ready for the others too.

About Me

Just a former Grunt / Pogue living the life as a gun toting 2nd Amendment loving American.
A ram is an uncastrated sheep. They are sheep that sometimes attack to defend themselves and the flock. Some rams have horns, I have horns too. Mine are not made of bone but of polymer and metal. Just like the ram I will run from danger when I can, but when pressed to fight and defend...I will.
I am a Ram.